1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to canes for the visually impaired, and more particularly to a mobility director device and cane for the visually impaired.
2. Description of Related Art
A well known problem in the field of mobility canes is the narrow search area that the conventional cane provides. Traditional canes do not provide warning of many potential obstacles of their surroundings, particularly obstacles that extend into a walkway above a person's waist. While the traditional cane warns of changes along the ground, it does not warn of other walking hazards such as low-hanging tree limbs and the like.
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Elchinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,204, teaches a conventional mobility cane for the blind that incorporates a compact, dual-mode, ultrasonic obstacle detection sensor. The size of the protective zone associated with the sensor is variable. In one mode, the sensor warns of low lying objects that might contact the upper extremities of the user. In another mode, the user can determine the presence or absence of more remote objects. The user is warned of the presence of objects within the zone by an audible warning.
The above-described references are hereby incorporated by reference in full.
The prior art teaches a single-zone detector with an audible alert for use with a mobility cane. However, the prior art does not teach a way to continuously monitor multiple zones along. Nor does the prior art teach a way to warn the user of the vicinity of the object, such as whether the object is to the user's right or left. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.